The present invention relates to a pressurized underarm product and package having a metered-dose valve assembly capable of delivery a reduced amount of product while achieving improved consumer acceptance.
The consumer products industry provides the world""s consumers with a wide variety of products that are designed to meet consumer""s needs. These personal care products are designed to not only meet the functional needs of consumers but also create a usage experience that is pleasurable. The number and variety of products that are available to today""s consumers is vast and spans a broad range of functional design, aesthetic design, and intended use. These products can be grouped in numerous ways. For example, products can be grouped by function (cleansing, odor prevention, treatment, cosmetic enhancement, sensory experience, etc.), form (sprays, creams, lotions, wipes, bars, lathering soaps, etc.), and/or intended use (for hair, teeth, facial skin, legs, underarms, whole body). When considering the function, form and intended use, it is important to consider the package needed. The type of package and the function of this package must work in a synchronized fashion with the product. Pressurized packages like hairspray, deodorant; cooking oils, paint and cleansers have all been accepted when delivered as sprays, mousses or gels.
Currently marketed underarm products (e.g., antiperspirants, deodorants) typically are sold in the form of a stick in a canister, a gel in a canister, or a powdered active (suspended or dissolved) in a pressurized package. Different than these existing products forms, it is the intent of the present invention to place a liquid or emulsion underarm product in a pressurized package for a variety of reasons including, but not limited to, providing a substantially single-phase product which is more visually attractive to the consumer.
In applying the proper amount of antiperspirant product to a target surface (e.g., consumer""s underarm), the amount of antiperspirant active that will ultimately be deposited must be considered. It is commonly desired to deliver from about 0.075 grams to about 0.5 grams of antiperspirant active to the target surface, regardless of the product form. In considering the use of spray packages (e.g., pressurized aerosol packages), it has been discovered that a typical consumer sprays the product (i.e., actuates the spray package) on average for 2 seconds, regardless of the amount of product being delivered because the consumer usually doesn""t see the amount of product that is ultimately delivered to their underarm. Therefore, historically when designing a package to spray an antiperspirant product, one skilled in the art must first adhere to this overriding consumer behavior of continuously spraying for 2 seconds. All other design aspects would then follow.
It has been discovered that liquid or emulsion underarm products can provide a thinner and more continuous film layer that coats the underarm better than powders or gels. Therefore, it has also been discovered that a smaller amount of product may be needed when spraying a liquid or emulsion to achieve similar product efficacy results. Furthermore, spraying too much of a liquid or emulsion product may result in a wet/runny cosmetic feel, while spraying too little of a liquid or emulsion product may result in a unacceptable efficacy results. Historically, to spray a smaller amount of product, two design techniques would be used separately or jointly. First, the package would be designed to have smaller orifice sizes within its flow channels, however, smaller orifices are more prone to clogging (especially with the presence of impurities within the product) and they create smaller particles of the product, which have undesirable spray properties (i.e., small particles don""t travel as far as larger particles). Secondly, the internal pressure of the product within the package would be reduced, however, this would require reformulating the product composition.
What is needed is a package capable of dispensing a liquid or emulsion underarm product that overcomes the long-standing consumer behavior of spraying for 2 seconds and also provides a robust solution that is better than the problematic techniques of reducing flow channel orifice size or changing internal package pressure. It has been discovered that a spray package having a metered-dose type valve system provides these desired benefits. Additionally and surprisingly, it has been discovered that by positively impacting the particle size distribution of the sprayed product, a metered-dose type valve system (1) increases the amount of product that is ultimately deposited on the target surface (i.e., product deposition) and (2) decreases the amount of sprayed particles that becomes air borne (i.e., gassiness) and thus susceptible to being inhaled by the consumer or deposited in the environment. These discoveries will be discussed in greater detail.
The present invention provides an underarm product and a spray package. The spray package has a metered-dose valve assembly. The underarm product is contained and pressurized inside of the package. The underarm product being in the form of a liquid or emulsion. The underarm product is an antiperspirant or a deodorant. The underarm product contains a solubilized and/or non-solubilized propellant.
Other advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which simply illustrates various modes contemplated for carrying out the invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of other different obvious aspects, all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and descriptions are illustrative in nature and not restrictive.